How About a Bike Ride?

My retired friend, Kathy, gave me a call on a beautiful fall morning and asked, “Want to go for a bike ride today?”  Always up for a new activity, I immediately said yes.  Kathy has been retired for a few years so her experience with activities for retirees is a great advantage to me.  We like to do a lot of the same things - travel, exercise, new and interesting activities, reading, sight-seeing, and of course spa visits!  Kathy has been bike riding since her retirement a few years ago - my bike riding is scanty at best.  Her suggestion was to bike the Cal-Sag Trail, a 26 mile public greenway linking marinas, golf courses, nature and forest preserves.  It’s pretty.  It sounded like a splendid idea - exercise, fresh air, beautiful scenery, nice fall day, and of course the best part - it’s free!

As a new retiree, you become involved with a lot of new activities and hobbies - some you continue and others you try once and choose not to repeat.  As I muddle through new activities, I don’t invest a lot of money until I am sure that I want to continue with them.  The bicycle I have is an older Schwinn that I know needs to be replaced with a lighter road bike that’s more comfortable to ride.  Before leaving for the bike ride, my husband checked my old bike and deemed it safe for riding.  We loaded my Schwinn onto Kathy’s bike rack next to her cool, aerodynamic Trek and off we went to the Cal-Sag Trail about 10 minutes away.  

We chose to ride 18 miles - 9 miles one way and 9 miles back.  It was a fantastic workout, taking us about 90 minutes.  We stopped once for a picture and once for a drink of water.  If you have good balance and an average fitness level, bike riding is definitely feasible.  Here are some basics:

• Take water
• Wear a helmet!
• Ride on the right side of the trail - if you want to pass someone, ring your bell or shout something like, “Coming up on your left!”  
• If you're going up a hill and it’s too difficult, shift down to a lower gear.
• If you’re legs are spinning too fast, shift up to a higher gear.  
• Get a basket if you want to carry things - we carried our cell phones and jackets in Kathy's basket.

My review on Bike Riding:  I will definitely repeat this activity on a regular basis.  It was an awesome workout, the scenery was lovely, and the fresh air allowed me to get a great sleep!  I look forward to going again (on my new bike) as we ride and peep at the beautiful leaves while they turn from green to orange and red. 

After researching bike riding for the 50 and over crowd, I learned that there is a substantial amount of information online.  Baby boomer bike use is soaring, seniors can take cycling tours all over the U.S. as well as Europe, and no one can argue with the countless health benefits for seniors that cycling has to offer.